Building Careers and Shaping Public Policy

16 March 2005

The President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC  20500

Dear President Bush,

I am writing on behalf of IEEE-USA to encourage you, when you are considering potential candidates for service on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to nominate individuals who have strong backgrounds in telecommunications and related technologies.

Many of the important issues that the FCC must address in these rapidly changing times are increasingly technology-driven and include the explosive growth in wireless deployment, the need for reform in how the radio spectrum is managed, the implementation of fiber optic technology, the need for increasing the speed of digital communications, etc.  The potential opportunities presented by these new technologies need to be accurately and effectively addressed for the good of the public and to ensure that U.S. leadership in telecommunications is not overtaken by other nations.  Accordingly, technology experience and qualifications are becoming more and more important as considerations when appointing FCC Commissioners.  It is vitally important that at least some of the Commissioners at the FCC have a strong technical background and/or hands-on experience in a high-tech industry.  Therefore, we strongly suggest that you seriously consider the technical background and experience of individuals who you nominate as FCC Commissioners.

IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of the IEEE.  It was created in 1973 to advance the public good and promote the careers and public policy interests of the more than 220,000 technology professionals who are U.S. members of the IEEE.  The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society.   For more information, please contact Deborah Rudolph at (202) 785-0017 x 8332; d.rudolph@ieee.org.

Sincerely,

Gerard A. Alphonse
President, IEEE-USA